Wotan was my soul dog and followed me everywhere. He loved playing and was born for the sport of agility and competed until the age of twelve. He enjoyed retirement, whether it was sleeping in bed or getting the best spot on the couch or joining us for a hike.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

At the BCDC trial yesterday, Wotan earned his Excellent Agility Jumpers title (AXJ) with a First Place! This amazing boy, age 12, had a perfect run and was six seconds under course time. He was also the only dog in his class to qualify on this challenging course. I am so proud of Wotan!

Wotan achieved his AXJ title winning first place for all three legs!

In the afternoon, he had another clean run but in typical Weim fashion, would not immediately sit on the table, and we did not qualify as we were over time by two seconds! That would have completed his AX title.....

Unfortunately, this handler is not as agile as my dogs, and at the second to last obstacle did a front cross and tore a muscle in my calf. We finished the course and I limped off. Long story short, the ER doctor put me in a splint/soft cast, sent me home on crutches with explicit directions to not drive. I'll see an orthodpedic surgeon this week and most likely will just need physical therapy and time off from agility, boo hoo.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Wotan had an almost perfect run in Excellent JWW but a bauble in the weaves gave us a refusal and a disqualifying run. In Excellent, the only thing that qualifies is perfection and on this day, we just weren't :( And not a bad run for my almost 12 year old boy!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Wotan showed us this week what true starpower he really has, modeling for a Ralph Lauren fashion shoot one day, and then the next day, going to an agility trial and qualifying in Excellent Standard with a 2nd place! What makes this accomplishment even more special is that he has had a two-month hiatus from agility so he really surprised me.

The location for the shoot was on an estate in western New Jersey, near Bedminster. This area is big horse country and the USET headquarters are located nearby.

Wotan and his Brazilian model, Vanessa. Their pictures will appear in the Ralph Lauren outlet stores in December.

Wotan was not starstruck and just relaxed and enjoyed the day, as well as the bagel used for bait.It was 95 degrees outside and long day of waiting. We spent much of the day hanging out in this lovely kitchen, full of catered food, a bonus as these jobs.

Can you imagine having this reflecing pool and gorgeous stone building in your backyard?

This was taken in one of the many greenhouses on the property. The landscaping and exotic foliage was breathtaking.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Poor Wotan feels a bit left out with all the attention going to the puppies. We try to make sure that he gets quality time and plenty of belly rubs. He particularly enjoys going alone with me for our 3-mile walks or runs in the woods.

They don't stay on the dog bed for long...once the lights go out, it's up onto the king size sleigh bed for these two.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Since he is 11 1/2 years old and I won't be able to trial for a number of months, due to the puppies, I asked my instructor to handle him as I so desperately want to finish his AX and AXJ titles. He worked wonderfully for her in class and hoped she could do what I haven't been able to. In typical weim fashion, and yes it was caught on video, after the 4th jump with Arlene, Wotan ran out of the ring looking for me, lol!

Nix the plan for someone else to run him. So in the afternoon, I ran him in Excellent Standard and he qualified with a 2nd place! Our first Q in a year.

Today, he had a pretty good morning run in Standard, but the judge called a refusal, that was debatable, and he took a long time to sit on the table, so we didn't Q.The best was yet to come. The Excellent JWW course started with a tunnel, which is a bonus for us since the little stinker will not stay at the start line.

Not only did Wotan have an amazing run in 40 seconds and qualify, we got 1st place and he was the only dog to qualify!

It was very exciting since all of my classmates and friends watched the run and cheered us on. The run was videotaped, so it should be uploaded soon.